Postal use will be divided into THREE CATEGORIES

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Here, of course, Our Focus is ONLY on the HOLYLAND (PALESTINE) Postal Offices (Civilian and Military).

Turkish (Ottoman Empire) military action in World War I started on October 29, 1914 with their attack on Russia’s Black Sea coast; and ended on October 30, 1918 with the signing of the Armistice of Mudros.

The following POSTAL changes occurred.

The Turkish (Ottoman Empire) Post Offices.

The Turkish Post Offices (Civilian) continued to operate during the war until September, 1918.

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BELOW from Alexander Collection (see link below).

. . . . In the history of Eretz- Israel, World War I will be remembered as a dark period of starvation, expulsion and the use of the population as pawns in a confrontation between powerful nation-states.

. . . The Ottoman Empire officially joined the war on the side of the Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of October 1914. On August 2, the Turks signed a secret agreement with the Germans for reciprocal military support against the Russians. The same day, a military call-up was announced for a general recruitment of soldiers*, beginning in Turkey and then spreading throughout the entire Empire.

On October 1, the privileges of foreign citizens living in Eretz Israel were revoked* – an annulment of previous capitulation agreements. As a result, all foreign consulates and postal agencies in the country, including the offices of Turkey’s allies, Austria and Germany, were closed*.

The old Jewish settlement saw the cancellation of these agreements as a scheme to sever their bond with Eretz-Israel, since their life there depended upon foreign citizenship granted by the European powers. The choice facing foreign citizens was to become Ottomans or leave the country*.

At the beginning of the war, some groups of settlers supported the Turkish war effort*, going so far as to praise the annulment of the capitulation agreement; they believed that, as Jews who agreed to adopt Ottoman citizenship, they would receive better treatment from the governing authorities*.

At the close of 1914, the curtain rose on the war in Palestine*, engaging the region in many parallel events in which 690,000 inhabitants were involved, including 85,000 Jews*.